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A Bonanza in Hay Land Reclamation on San Pablo Bay Note: The following article
is based largely on a talk given
at Skaggs Island by Gregory
Jones, Sr. (now deceased) on
October 15, 1977 to a group of
Naval and civilian personnel
about Skaggs Island and
nearby reclaimed land. The
occasion was the 202nd
Birthday of the US Navy.
by Sherman Boivin
In 1848, California was
ceded by Mexico to the United
States and became a territory.
In that same year, Gold was
discovered at Sutler's fort on
the American River, and as the
news spread the Gold Rush got
under way. Land speculation
became more rampant and
uncontrolled than ever, bring­ing
on many years of fighting
and litigation.
Despite the rampant land
speculation in early Sonoma,
link consideration was given
to a very large area of tidelands
on the north shores of San
Francisco Bay and its
branches. None of the names
of the settlers are associated
with that land, and for good
reason, since under conditions
then existing the land had little
or no use.
The tidelands vary some­what
in elevation but on an
average, in their natural
condition, are about 5 feet 3
inches above mean low tide.
The tidal variation during calm
weather runs from a high of
about 6 1/2 feet above mean
low tide to a low of more than
1 1/2 feet below mean low tide.
About every 24 hours there are
two high and two low tides.
One high and one low ap­proach
the extremes, while the
other high and low tides for the
day are much more moderate in
range. As a result these tide­lands
are briefly flooded during
high water, so without levees
the areas are mostly for the
birds, although when higher
ground and fresh water is
nearby, small animals such as
raccoons are often present, too.
There is evidence that early
attempts were made by squat­ters
to reclaim the land by pick
and shovel. They built dikes in
tiny portions of the marsh in
sheltered spots away from
wind-driven waves, but there is
apparently no evidence this
was done by larger owners
until much later.
Speculation augmented by
the Gold Rush soon reached
people in Europe. Some enter­prising
salesman, ignoring
waterways and natural
boundaries, sold many small
plots of marsh land to numer­ous
gullible buyers in Switzer­land!
The parcels they bought
were impossible to develop or
even resell. Records show that
someone acting as their agent
must have consolidated their
holdings in such a way as to
create a saleable unit. The
parcels ignored most of the
natural waterways and the fact
that title to the land lying
between high and mean low
water was vested in the State of